Unam Rugby Club continued their great run in the Namibia Rugby Union (NRU) premier league with emphatic win over Grootfontein, while log leaders Kudus tasted their first defeat of the season on Saturday.

The defending champions played Grootfontein over the weekend, and maintained their title chase with a convincing 30-17 win away from home to remain on course.  

Speaking to this publication after the match, Unam team manager Ryno Visage said the win is enormous for the club in terms of executing their plan. He added that this has put them in a great position to keep the title.

“It was a very important win for us, it puts us in a great position in the league race. We now know that the points aren’t that much of a difference from the log leaders,” he said.

“Heading forward, we are going to build up from the momentum and continue with the game plan, which is chasing the title and defending it. This was the last match for round one, and its only great that we end the first round on a high note,” noted Visagie.

Unam’s second team also beat Grootfontein 30-20 in the Reserve League.

Meanwhile, Kudus tasted their first defeat of the season when they lost 26-36 to Western Suburbs at the Hage Geingob stadium. 

Kudus’ coach Gawan Esterhuizen insisted that the loss cannot scrap them from the title race. He, however, described it as a learning curve and they will go back and work on those mistakes.

“I wouldn’t say it was a setback, but it was just a slight mistake along the way. However, the loss can also not take us out of the title chase. We remain the top contender for this season and that’s what we will do. We are going back to work on our mistakes and come back strong as a team,” he said.

Elsewhere, Trutsco United suffered a loss at home against Wanderers with a score of 27-28, while Rehoboth came out victorious by 54-36 against Reho Falcon. 

- mkambukwe@nepc.com.na